Reports suggested that Twitter had made a $525m bid to buy Instagram before Facebook swooped in and sealed the deal.

Twitter responded by limiting the way Instagram images were presented on its micro-blogging website, meaning Twitter users were forced to click through to the Instagram web profile to see the photos in their entirety.

Twitter has also since stopped Instagram from using its own friend-finding API, and at the end of last year released Instagram-style photo filters for its own mobile apps.

Startup Vine was acquired by Twitter last year and released its standalone Apple iOS app yesterday, enabling users to post short video clips on social networks.

However, the app has had a tough start to life. Alongside the Facebook 'find people' lock-out, Vine also had to quickly release an updated version of the app after some "launch day hiccups".